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The
Blue
and
the
gay
Out on the alr—and off—with
star BU1 Brochtrup
GAS & PRICE
NYPD Blue
by
ame the highest-rated television series
that features not only an openly gay reg
ular character, but which also features an
openly gay man in that role. Stumped?
Not if you switch on A B C every Tuesday night
to see Bill Brochtrup in the role of Public
Administrative Aide John Irvin in the
long-running series NYPD Blue.
Best known for his telling glances and
his nickname— gruff Detective Sipowicz
calls him “Gay John”— Brochtrup’s char
acter has been an integral part of the series
for several seasons now. But it didn’t begin
that way.
“When I first started doing the show,”
says Brochtrup from his newly purchased
home in the Los Angeles area, “I came on
at the end of the second season. I came on
to do two episodes as this funny gay temp.
Then they sort of had me stay and stay
and stay.”
Producers Stephen Bochco and David
Milch kept using Brochtrup through Blue's
third season, before switching him to the
short-lived Bochco productions Public
Morals and Total Security. The John Irvin
character returned as a series regular dur
ing NYPD Blue's sixth season.
Brochtrup recalls his initial trepidation
at being an openly gay actor, in the early
days of Blue: “The Advocate called before
the thing even aired. I didn’t have a pub
licist, I had never done an interview for
anyone.... So in that first interview I did
with them, I said I didn’t want to talk
about my personal life, because I wasn’t
sure how I wanted to handle it yet.”
He notes that the avoidance "lasted
for about two weeks, and everything I’ve done
since then, I have been open about {being
gay]-”
Brochtrup laughs at the irony of telling an
interviewer this, then says, “The press is irrevo
cable. Once it’s written in the paper, then
everybody can read about it for a dollar at the
newsstand. You can’t be a whole lot more out
than that!”
Brochtrup was bom in Englewood, Calif.,
but grew up in Tacoma, Wash. He studied act
ing at New York University, then worked
extensively in theater and did guest roles in
television series and films, before landing the
Blue role.
Brochtrup credits producer-writer David
Milch with the complexity of his character.
“I think that he feels that John is very
evolved, and that he is, in many ways, the
character who is the most in touch with who
he is,” Brochtrup explains. "W e’re doing the
squad room with all these people who can’t
deal with their emotions and how they feel
about things and can only do that monosyllab
ic grunt, and John has no shame about who he
IS.
Another element of the series that has
struck a chord with gay viewers is the complex
relationship between John and bigoted Andy
Sipowicz (played by Dennis Franz).
“(Milch) said that the entire series is about
the redemption of the Sipowicz character,”
Brochtrup says. “When John came on, it was to
have him become a foil for Andy, and that we
would see his homophobia in the same way we
see his racism.”
He adds: “1 think the audience looks at
their own homophobia. You see John being
WAR!
A ndy M angels
very sweet and you see Andy being very nasty
to him and you think, ‘Gosh, I’ve been that
way before. It’s not very attractive when I see
it.’ It holds a mirror up to the audience.”
NYPD Blue has won two G LA A D Media
F
“ Gay John” (Bill Brochtrup) giving
conservative co-worker Andy Sipowicz
(Dennis Franz) a haircut on NYPD Blue
Awards for best portrayal of gay characters on
television, and Brochtrup is happy with the
accolades and the private response.
“I get letters from grandmothers and people
who say, ‘Thank you, my grandson is gay and
we appreciate what you’re doing. That means
a lot to me,” Brochtrup says. “Truck drivers and
cab drivers and everyday working-class, blue-
collar guys you would not necessarily think
would love this character come up to me and
shake my hand and tell me how much they
love this guy. I find that remarkable.”
An episode aired in late Febmary that con
centrated on Brochtrup’s character— “I like to
think of it as ‘John Irvin, Boy Detective,’ ” he
jokes. It set up a story line that will continue
through the end of the season.
“We get to learn a little bit more about
John’s personal life,” the actor explains.
Does this mean one of NYPD Blue’s famous
nude scenes is in the offing? “We do have to
sign these contracts with a nudity clause in
them. I guess at their request I have to do it. I
feel like it’s gonna happen some day. Some day
we’ll have a scene with two guys on TV,”
Brochtrup says and, after a pause, enthu
siastically adds, “I’d be happy to be in the
forefront!”
As an openly gay actor, Brochtrup
isn’t overly concerned about the dreaded
Hollywood typecasting: “I think all actors
are trying to push the envelope of what
people think they can do. I think that
typecasting is endemic to acting. I don’t
think of it as particularly a gay problem.
I’ve turned down a lot of parts of gay
characters that I thought were not writ
ten well, and at the same time I’m very
happy to play gay characters and I would
be happy to play them exclusively the
rest of my life if they were as well-written
as this one is.”
Given current gay Hollywood success
stories such as Will & Grace and Rupert
Everett, and the continued success of
Ellen DeGeneres, Brochtrup finds it
“encouraging that there are more and
more out gay actors working.”
He adds: “I don’t feel I’m having any
career trouble. I’ve been working steadily
since I did those interviews where I said I
was gay.”
These days, 36-year-old Brochtrup is
spending his off-set hours with roofers
and landscapers on his new house, but in
his spare time he loves backpacking and
games.
He also jokes that he’s different from his
character, saying, “I certainly have better hair
than he does, and I think I dress better. I’m
from Seattle. I wear flannel!”
He doesn’t party much or go to the clubs,
and notes that he’s never done drugs.
“I’m pretty on the straight and narrow,” he
says.
Although A B C hasn’t officially picked up
NYPD Blue for next season, Brochtrup has
three more years on his contract with the
series.
“I will stay as long as they will have me. I
think everyone also feels— and I certainly do—
how lucky we are to find a place where every
thing has come together,” he says.
So, what is the best thing that’s happened
to Bill Brochtrup as a result of coming out in
Hollywood?
First, he recalls the letters he’s gotten, but
then he says earnestly: “The best thing that’s
happened about it is nothing. The world didn’t
end, my career didn’t come to a complete halt,
I didn’t get ridiculed, I didn’t get yelled at. Life
went on just as I’d hoped it would. I hope that
is the thing that I can sort of give to people.
Nothing went wrong, it’s all going pretty dam
well. I think that’s the day that we’re all kind
of struggling toward; the day that will be the
case for everyone, when everyone will be able
to be out and who they are and no one will
care...and life will just carry on."
■ ANDY M angels is a longtime entertainment
writer with three books and hundreds of comic
books and magazine articles to his credit, including
a biography of gay screenwriter Kevm Williamson.
You can write to him at AMangelsSW@aol.com.
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